Shannon and Justin

About Us

My name is Shannon, I was born in Toronto, Ontario. I grew up in a large family with five siblings, three brothers and two sisters. I moved to the Belleville area in 1991. I met Justin when I was seventeen and we were friends for a few years, at which point we started dating. Justin was born in Oshawa, Ontario, into a small family with an older sister who lives in Toronto, Ontario. He has a large extended family in England and Australia. Justin’s mother and father ran a foster home for thirteen years where he lived with different children from all areas of Ontario.

We opened a therapeutic foster home with Quinte Children’s Homes in 2002, working as parent therapists for the past four years.

Management Style

We run a program geared to all age groups but have opened our home primarily to adolescents over the past two years. We offer structured individualized programming; as well as, family based activities such as, games, TV and movies. We are very close to our extended family and enjoy celebrating holidays and special occasions with them on a regular occasion. We utilize a variety of community resources such as the YMCA, Karate, Armories and Belleville Parks and Recreation to help our kids engage in meaningful activities after school. We offer programs for high risk youth, offering structured supervision while maintaining some level of independence within the home. We also offer life skills training for youth wishing to transfer from a family based home to independent living.

Description of Home

We live in a large multi-level home with five bedrooms on the top floor and two large living rooms on the main floor. All of the bedrooms are quite large with large closets and lots of natural light. The home is open and bright with a lot of large windows in all of the rooms. Our home is situated at the end of a large cul-de-sac in the East end of Belleville, offering a lot of privacy while remaining close to the city. We have a large open backyard with a play structure and sand box, with lots of trees and small wildlife (birds and rabbits). We are accessible to the Bay View Mall, coffee shops; as well as, the Belleville Transit. Our home schools are Moira Secondary, Harry J. Clarke, Nicholson Catholic College and St. Joseph’s Catholic School. We are also close to Dessert Stream Christian Reform Church, Bridge Street United Church and St. Joseph’s Roman Catholic Church.

Pets

August – Seven year old Female mixed breed lab
Dozer – Four year old male mixed Newfoundlander
Shamrock – Seven year old male domestic cat

Shannon: Primary Parent Therapist

Education

Social Service Worker Diploma, Loyalist College of A.A.T

Experience

I have worked in the social service field for ten years, in all areas of case management as well as, working on the front lines. I have operated a therapeutic foster home for eight + years and I have also worked in the developmental service field working with children living with multiple physical disabilities.

Training

CPR/First Aid, TCI, CPI, Trauma Assessment and Training, Attachment Theory and the Brain, The Effects of Trauma.

Justin: Secondary Parent Therapist

Education

Broadcast Journalism Diploma, Loyalist College of A.A.T

Training

CPR/First Aid, TCI (including refreshers every six months)

Interests

All sports (watching and playing), video and PC games, board games, movies and reading, as well as nature hikes within the community.

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